European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 21, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday february 21, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 17 Money matters after 12 weeks of falling prices the National average Price of self service regular unleaded gasoline edged up four tenths of a cent per gallon in the past week to $1,049, the american automobile association said wednesday. Aaan a fuel gauge report said its the first time the average Price has increased since nov. 19, when self service regular was $1,143 per gallon. The fuel gauge report based on a nationwide spot Check of gasoline stations was conducted by computer Petroleum corp. Of St. Paul Minn. Average pump prices Are higher in the mid Atlantic great lakes Midwest Southeast and Southwest but lower in new England and the West aaa said. The nationwide average Price of self service regular leaded gasoline declined 1.2 cents to $1,044 per gallon. The self service mid Grade unleaded average is five tenths of a cent higher at $1.15 per gallon and the self service pre a increased to $1,234. Premium average conversion rates London up thursdays rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars Gold was quoted at $353.25 an ounce Silver at $4.08. Feb. 19 feb. 20 British pound.1.75150 1.75035 German mark.1.6440 1.6550 French franc.5.6007 5.6255 dutch guilder.1.8525 1.8622 belgian franc.33.81 34.03 italian lira.1,234.95 1,241.25 Swiss franc.1.4845 1.4945 greek drachma.189.64 190.77 turkish lira.5,755.90 5,788.50 saudi arabian rfyai.3.7500 3.7501 Spanish peseta.103.02 103.57 portuguese escudo.141.42 142.11 Canadian dollar.1.1892 1.1865 austrian schilling.11.5920 11.6570 norwegian krone.6.4490 6.4815 danish krone.6.3720 6.4085 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. The Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this will be 1.61 through Friday based on thursdays noontime Price fixing. New York Exchange new York up York Stock exc Nangi Stock Uniss corp Hewlett Packard Citicorp anti fwd credit Ford motor co Oak industries Wal Mart stores at4t company Chrysler corp limited inc Glaxo holdings general motors Pfizer inc Philip Morris Fedl Nad Mage american Exchange a to 15 most Active stocks in new 9 composite trading on wednesday. Seize Lett net chg. 5,778,800 10vk off 1 3,899,100 73vk up 9vk 3,887,600 16% up Vuk 3,809,800 35% off 3yk 3,306,200 38 Vuk up 1 Yak 3,180,800 2v up Yak 2,814,100 52 Vuk up 2,725,800 38 Yak a pvt 2,306,800 16% up 2,277,700 29 i off m 2,238,300 29vk off Vuk 2,138,400 38% up off Yak 1,729,000 69% 1,724,000 74 up vib 1,645,000 62 up 1v4 new York up american Stock exc a Stock Wang labs inc b Ivan corp Hill Haven corp Hasbro inc Forest labs inc us Blos Clence Alza corp dog corp magma Copper co Amdahl corp the 10 most Active stocks in settee last net chg 925,400 5vk Uncan 693,200 33 Vuk off Vuk 552,700 2% unch 520,000 37 off Vuk 428,100 34 Yoff 412,800 15% off % 379,100 42yk up 1% 355,300 6yk off vhf 340,300 8% up 305,700 17vk off i Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones closing Range of averages wednesday 30 industrials 20 transport 15 a odes 65 stocks High 3259.17 1435.35 207 31 1180.69 Lew 3199.02 1410.69 204 56 1160.14 Closa 3230.32 1424.89 205 50 1170.81 change up 5.59 up 4.86 of 0.50 up 1.99 fed chief upbeat on recovery but warns it could Peter out by Steven greenhouse the new York times Washington a Alan Greenspan Federal Reserve chairman on wednesday gave his most optimistic assessment in months of the Economy a near term prospects but he said the signs of an upturn could still a Peter  testifying before the House subcommittee on Domestic monetary policy Greenspan said a we Are beginning to see stirrings of a recovery. He pointed in particular to a pickup in retail sales and Home building including a 3.5 percent jump in new Home construction in january that was announced wednes Day. Coming in the politically charged atmosphere after -,5 us. The new Hampshire primary Greenspan a heavily Greenspan hedged a on the one hand on the other hand testimony seemed to take special pains to avoid partisanship. But his forecast of a recovery in the second Quarter however circumscribed might reassure White House strategists worried about president Bush a poor showing because of his handling of the Economy. With an Eye to the Bond markets which have pushed up interest rates in recent Days partly on concern that economic growth could feed inflation he emphasized that inflation was falling adding that the nation would soon a have attained the lowest rates of inflation in a  the labor department on wednes Day in fact said that consumer prices last month Rose Only 0.1 percent. The Bond Market rallied in response to that report and to Greenspan a remarks in his semiannual report to Congress on the Economy. Analysts said that the recent signs of a pickup in economic growth indicated that the fed was not Likely to further Cut interest rates anytime soon to stimulate the Economy. Even so Greenspan said that the Central Bank was closely monitoring the Economy. He has said several times in recent weeks that the fed would ease monetary policy further if the Economy continues to stall. Greenspan said that after the nations Industrial production dropped Iti january the feds data show an end to that decline in february As Well Asim movements in new orders and inventory backlogs. In addition to the gain in housing con auction reported wednesday which pushed new Home starts to their highest in a a looking to the nations Long term prospects Greenspan pointedly criticized the White House and Congress for not doing enough to reduce the Federal budget deficit. He said that for the first time in years the administrations forecasts did not see the budget reaching a surplus within five years. He noted that current estimates Call for a $200 billion Federal deficit in 1996. The fed chairman said these Levels a Marc higher than we should be willing to  he added that a the Large stocks of Federal debt have a adversely affected our economic prospects by putting upward pressure on real interest rates and thus stunting the growth of the capital Stock on which our future incomes  Greenspan repeated his recent forecasts that the Economy would recover in the april june Quarter but he added a heavy Dollop of caution. The main Force holding Back recovery he said is that households and businesses level since the Middle of 1990, the government last week reported an increase of 0.6 percent in retail sales in january. Saying he was a somewhat More optimistic about an upturn than he was a few weeks ago the fed chairman added a i done to wish to overemphasize it. Its a series of weeks and it could just As easily Peter out As indeed the much More vigorous recovery of last Spring petered  he acknowledged that he was wrong to forecast six months ago that the recovery that began last Spring would continue. The fed and most economists were sur Are still struggling to reduce the huge debt loads they acquired during the 1980s. Only when households feel they prised when the modest recovery stalled largely because of a fall off in consumer Confidence and a new buildup in inventories. Have reduced their debt sufficiently for instance by refinancing mortgages at lower interest rates would spending take off again he said. A what we do not know a he said a is How far the adjustment process for balance sheets must proceed prior to the renewal of the Normal forces of economic  Greenspan said the fed believed the nations Economy would grow by 1.75 percent to 2.5 percent this year. The White House has forecast 2.2 percent growth. He said the jobless rate currently 7.1 percent would Edge Down this year to Between 6.75 percent and 7 percent. Contender for chairmanship of ism leaving to head Hughes aircraft co. New York a c. Michael Armstrong a leading candidate to replace in my a chairman is leaving the computer giant to head Hughes aircraft co., the military contractor announced wednesday. Armstrong 53, is one of the top five executives of International business machines corp. And chairman of in my a overseas operations. He was considered a prime candidate to replace ism chairman John f. Akers scheduled to retire in three years. A the succession is very murky a said Industry analyst Sam Albert a former longtime ism executive himself. Armstrong a departure is the first High level resignation since the company announced a sweeping reorganization late last year. Under that plan ism will break off Many of its businesses into sem autonomous operations. However it did no to appear that Armstrong a departure was related to the company changes. A it caught a lot of people by Surprise a said Albert. He said Armstrong was a very impatient. He wants to Lead something. He a not oing to sit around waiting for Akers to give it  Albert said he believes ism is looking for a younger executive to eventually replace Akers. The analyst said ism has a Pool of talented executives in their late 40s who May be considered for the chairman a Job. Albert believes a leading candidate to succeed Akers is Robert Labant who runs in my a . Domestic sales and service operations. Labant was elevated to his Post in november after running ism s Minicomputer business one of the computer giants few divisions that saw sales grow last year. Ism based in Armonk n.y., recently suffered a slump in earnings and sales Hurt by the recession and changes in the computer Industry. Last year ism sales fell for the first time since 1946. Ism said it would not replace Armstrong and would eliminate his position. Armstrong will replace Malcolm r. Currie 65, effective March 31. Currie will continue to serve As Hughes chairman emeritus with no Day to Day authority the company said in a statement. Los Angeles based Hughes aircraft is a unit of pm Hughes electronics which is a subsidiary of general motors corp. Pm Hughes based in Detroit is scheduled to report its fourth Quarter and year end earnings on monday. Computer firm reports unexpected profits by the new York times san Francisco buoyed by Strong sales of its High powered computer workstations and laser printers the Hewlett Packard company surprised Wall Street on wednesday with earnings that exceeded most analysts estimates. Hewlett Packard shares soared and closed wednesday up $9,125, to $73.50, on the new York Stock Exchange. For its first fiscal Quarter which ended Jan. 31, Hewlett had earnings of $306 million or $1.21 a share up 49 percent from $205 million or 83 cents a share in the comparable period a year ago. Revenues Rose 13 percent to $3.86 billion compared to $3.41 billion in the first Quarter of the 1991 fiscal year. A a we re very pleased with this quarters performance a John a. Young Hewlett Packard a president and chief executive officer said in a statement. A these re sults reflect the Strong acceptance of Hpe a newer products and our ongoing efforts to slow the growth of  orders for the Quarter were $4.2 billion compared with $3.4 billion for the first Quarter of the 1991 fiscal year. However Young added that a a we remain cautious in our Outlook because of continuing economic difficulties in the . And slower growth in some key markets outside the United